1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in home appliances and the like, and particularly to a device for audibly indicating selectively the beginning, the end, or both the beginning and the end of a cycle by automatically signaling the acceleration and/or deceleration of the drive mechanism of the appliance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is common in the automatic laundry dryer art to provide an audible signal to indicate to the operator that a drying cycle is completed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,277,859; 3,230,921; and 2,655,892 show various devices for bringing a clapper and a bell into contact with one another, including, respectively, a screw thread on the motor shaft, a tuned wire oscillated by a cam, and a counter-weighted, spring-biased arm. U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,867 shows a bell journaled coaxially on a dryer motor shaft by means of low-friction bearings therebetween adjacent a centrifugally-actuated clapper mechanism rotatable with the motor shaft. When the motor shaft ceases rotating, the clapper is moved by a spring into a position to impact a striker of the bell as the bell continues rotating by inertia or flywheel action. In response to motor shaft rotation the clapper is moved inwardly by the force of a counterweight, preventing sounding of the bell despite relative rotation between the clapper and the bell.